Electric appliances from XCMG can now be ordered with flexible battery replacement technology, allowing heavy trucks and construction equipment to swap out their BYD-developed, 400 kWh packs in just three minutes, and deliver as fast as a diesel.
Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG, for short) may not be a household name here in the US, but the Chinese multinational company is the world's third-largest manufacturer of construction equipment – again, with the introduction of full equipment. a line of heavy duty products featuring battery replacement technology, they are making a case to be the number 1 HDEV manufacturer in the near future.
And we're not just talking about off-road and heavy-duty stuff – BYD's XCMG replacement batteries are on their way to off-road trucks too … but we'll get to that.
XCMG ZNK95 is a self-propelled electric truck
XCMG showcased its latest electric equipment at last month's Bauma China exhibition, including an updated version of its 85-ton electric mining truck. Known as the ZNK95 (above), the truck has a completely cabless design – meaning there's not even room for the operator to sit, let alone work. That's too bad, too, because what operator wouldn't want to have a magnetically coupled electric drive system capable of putting out 800 kW (1070 hp) and 22,000 Nm (16,200 lb-ft) of torque?
But autonomous solutions aren't about hp and torque – they're about keeping operators out of dangerous and dangerous places. To that end, XCMG says its new HDEVs are fully capable of operating at high altitudes, in extremely cold environments with temperatures as low as -40°C (a temperature at which most diesels can't even start, let alone run. ).
Even in the worst weather conditions, XCMG gets the job done with an autonomous driving system that integrates a host of advanced technologies including environmental perception, decision-making and planning, vehicle control, and communication into a single dashboard that can be monitored by the fleet manager.
The system can even identify faults in individual vehicles and put them back to work before they break down in the field – a big potential problem if a truck or dozer gets stuck underground!
The ZNK95 is already deployed in a large, open-pit mine in Inner-Mongolia, China, which has adopted a complete unmanned and electrified construction solution from XCMG Machinery for its latest “green” mining operation. The company says the mine will emit 149,000 fewer tons of harmful carbon than a diesel truck every year when its full order of ZNK95s is delivered in 2026.
But wait, there's more…
If you needed a reminder that China is light years ahead of the US when it comes to electrification technology (and, yes, I know light years measure distance not time – growth), you should know that XCMG's replaceable battery technology, with 400 kWh packs using BYD blade-style battery cells packaged in a joint venture between XCMG and BYD, it's not an event that a country that has seen millions of exchanges that didn't even qualify for release to the media in Bauma.
The trucks just showed up, I mean that it was after more than 1500 battery replacement MDEVs (XCMG's new XG2 EX630S cabovers) were delivered to Chinese customers and put into service.
In fact, the only reason I know at all is that I follow Etrucks New Zealand, an XCMG dealer, on LinkedIn, and he he was talking.
“XCMG is the preeminent EV exhibition at Bauma Shanghai. Here's a truck crane solution for replacing construction equipment batteries,” said Ross Linton, owner and President of Etrucks New Zealand. “Here is the solution for the truck crane to change the batteries of the construction machine.”
XCMG battery changing crane
I'll be at CES next week, where I'm sure Caterpillar will be celebrating its 100th anniversary, John Deere will be showing off a new, updated remote/autonomous solution, and Volvo will be showing off some new additions to its HDEV line. – up. None of them could represent a ready-to-use EV battery replacement solution, today.
Instead, they're all playing catch-up – if they know XCMG at all.
SOURCES | PHOTOS: Etrucks New Zealand, International Mining, USS.
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